Not all heroes get the ending they want
by Zhilay
Summary: The fourth shinobi war is over. But for the hero of the war things don't always go as they want. When Naruto returns after 2 years away from everything, he finds out that the ending he had hoped for isn't the one he will get. How will it all go for the Blonde boy, and will he find the happiness he wants. NarutoxIno pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: After spending a lot of time reading all the great fanfics on this page, i decided to try my hands on writing myself. This is the first chapter/prologue of a story i have in my mind. I've been reading alot of NarutoxIno pairings, and i just love them! This will, as the summary says, be a NaruxIno fic with focus on what happenes after the fourth shinobi war. **

**Hope you like this, and please leave a comment if there is some tips you have for my writing, as i am new to this, and want to do as good as i can.**

The forth shinobi war was finally over. The Shinobi alliance had defeated Madara and Akatsuki, but the sacrifices were great. Countless had fallen in their battle to save the world from falling under, and more were injured. Some would never be able to be shinobi again.

From his position on the mountain looking over the alliance camp, one Naruto Uzumaki was in deep thought about all the sacrifices made, when he was interrupted by a voice from behind him. "What are you doing here Naruto?" He turned around to see him longtime teammate with her pink hair and red outfit, one Sakura Haruno. "Just thinking Sakura-chan. All the people down there laid everything on the line just to make sure that Madara couldn't get his hands on me and Bee". He replied silently. Sakura stood there for a moment, before she walked up and hugged her blond teammate. She knew how he felt, and knew that he felt that all the people who had died in the war weren't supposed to die just so he could live on. "The people who died during the war died for what they believed in baka. They died believing that if this war was won, we could finally have peace."

Naruto took the words to heart, and return the hug while sighing tiredly. "I know, I just don't feel right standing here while so many lost their loved ones for a war that I feel I was to blame for."

Sakura stepped away, and looked at the blonde with an annoyed expression. "Don't say thinks like that you baka, you are the hero who ended the war! You are the hero who defeated Mada..." She was interrupted when Naruto puts a hand up as a sign to make her stop talking. "You know I can't take the credit for that." he said as he turned back towards the alliance camp. "All the people down there did as much, if not more than I did." As he finished talking, he picked up the backpack that was lying nearby, and started walking away. Sakura ran after him and grabbed his hand. "Where are you going Naru-baka?" He only smiled weakly at her. "I need some time away from all of this. Tell baa-chan i'll be back in about 2 years."

With that, Naruto left the camp where the alliance was busy celebrating the victory and the peace they had fought so hard for. Sakura could only look on as the blonde disappeared. A few tears escaped her eyes, and she frowned. 'get back to me soon Naruto. You may be a baka, but you are my baka.' she thought before she turned the other way to walk back to the camp.

When she arrived, she was met by the fifth hokage herself. "Oi, Sakura!" she yelled the pink haired medic over. She could see her sad expression, and she got a bad feeling. "Where is the gaki? Where is our blond hero?" Sakura couldn't look her master in the eyes after letting Naruto go like that. But he did tell her to let the hokage know he would be back. "He left Tsunade-sama. He said he needed time away from all of this." Tsunade could only look on in sadness as her apprentice continued talking. "He blames all the losses of the war on himself, and he feels that he doesn't deserve all the praise and hero worshiping he is getting. He wanted me to tell you that he will return to Konoha in 2 years". Tsunade took a deep breath and put a hand on Sakura's head. "I guess he deserves to have a long vacation after all that has happened. Don't worry Sakura. He'll be back, and hopefully back to his old goofy self". Sakura looked up at her master, and gave her a smile. She always knew how to keep her hopes up. "Oh, and I think Sasuke wanted to talk to you." Tsunade finished before walking back to the party. She wasn't going to miss out on all the sake.

Sasuke, the last remaining Uchiha in the world. After turning traitor on Konoha, and later the entire shinobi alliance, had returned towards the end of the war to once again stand by Naruto and Sakuras side as a part of team 7. After the war ended, he had been put in chains and brought before the 5 kages. After a series of interrogations and discussions, they had decided that he would not be excecuted for his treason. He had after all been a key part in the victory. He was grateful for this, but when it was announced that he would be allowed back to Konoha on the condition that he could never be a shinobi again, he was furious. How could they dare to deny the great Uchiha of being a shinobi? This was however the only option he had. It was either that, or banishment from all of the five great villages. He had to bite the sour apple. After all, how could he resurrect the clan if he was not allowed to come back to Konoha. He finally gave his agreement when he was told that if he had children, they would be allowed to be shinobi of the leaf. He was currently sitting alone in his tent thinking over this all over, when the flap was pushed aside, and his ex-teammate Sakura walked in. "Just the one I wanted to talk to." said Sasuke, as he showed his usual smirk. He couldn't take the Hokage title from Naruto, but there was something else he could take from his blond rival. And this would also help with the resurrection of his clan...

**So there you have it. The first part of my story. The next chapter will be released as soon as i can get myself to writing it, and it will start up with Naruto returning to Konoha.**

**So thank you for reading, and leave a comment with what you think was good/bad so that i can improve the writing.**


	2. Chapter 2 - The return

******Hello everyone! First of all, i would like to say: Thank you so much for the reviews, follows and favourites i've gotten. I don't know really what kind of expectations i had for my first story, but this response is great. So again, thank you!**

**The next chapter is finally done. I realised something while writing this...I am terrible at starting the writing. Even back when i was in school, the worst part about writing stuff, was to find out where and how to start. As soon as i get that, the story just flows. And now i have a good idea where i want this story to continue. Hopefully, i won't spend as long time on the next chapter as i did making this. Like a certain friend of mine was complaining about ^^**

**Anyways. Hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

* * *

**2 years later**

The sun was sitting high in the sky, watching over the city that was finally back to it's old glory. The destruction of Konoha during the attack of Pein had left a lot of rebuilding to be done, but things were finally finished. The one thing that was positive about the destruction, was the fact that they now had a chance to rebuild everything just like they wanted, and make it better than it was before.

Tsunade was sitting in in her office looking over the city and the peaceful villagers going about their business. 2 years had now passed, and there had been no incidents to take care of for any of the 5 great villages. Of course, that didn't mean that there hadn't been any threats out there. The only thing was that every time they had found out about missing nins in an area, they had suddenly appeared inside a scroll on the desk of the kage that was closest to said nin. No one could figure out how they had ended up there, but they weren't ones for complaining. This meant less work for them.

A soft sigh escaped the blonde kage as she walked back to the desk. Yes, everything was perfect right now. The only thing missing was one person. She picked up a picture standing her desk. It was a picture of Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraya and Naruto from when she was brought back to the village to be hokage. "It's been two years already gaki, Please come back to us." she said softly before turning back towards the windows to look at the village again. What she didn't know, was that he was closer than she thought.

Gates of Konoha

For the two on 'eternal guard duty', Izumo and Kotetsu, the day at the Konoha gates were just like any other day. Civilians and shinobi were entering and leaving either for travels, shipping of goods, or in the shinobi case, for missions. Yes, everything was like it's boring self, which was almost driving them mad at times. But they would rather sit around here all day than being forced on long-term missions away from home.

As they standing there, they could see a figure in the horizon. It was clad in a long, open red jacket, a red shirt with mesh underneath, black pants and black shinobi boots. The face was not visible due to the hood from the jacket. The person was also wearing a scroll strapped horizontally to his lower back. When the person arrived at the gate, they could see he was a rather tall and muscular person. But he still wouldn't show his face. "Please state your name, and your reasons for entering Konoha." Izumo said to the stranger. Said stranger just laughed at the two guards while slowly taking of his hood. "Is this how you great one of your fellow shinobi, eh?". When he removed his hood, the jaw on both Izumo and Kotetsu fell to the ground. Standing in front of them, with his familiar foxy grin, clear blue eyes and whisker marks where none other than Naruto Uzumaki. Although the face was easily recognizable, his hair was something that really surprised them. His hair had grown a little longer, and it just added confirmation to the fact that he was the spitting image of the Fourth hokage. But the other thing was that his blond spiky hair now had red edges to it.

"What's the matter guys? Looks like you've seen a ghost." Naruto exclaimed while smilingly rubbing the back of his head. Kotetsu was the first to snap out of his stupor. "Welcome home Naruto-sama! The entire village has been waiting eagerly for you to return". "oi oi, what's with the 'sama' thingy? I'm just Naruto, nothing else." Naruto replied, confused at the unusual remark. Izumo was the one to answer him. "It's only right that we show honorifics to the hero of the fourth shinobi war". Naruto just shook his head and laughed at the two guards. "There is absolutely no need for honorifics with me guys. I'm still the Naruto that grew up and raised hell in this village". Naruto then took his hand forward and gave a handshake to the both of them before turning the other way. "It was nice meeting up with you guys, but I bet Baa-chan wants to see me as soon as I get back in the village, so I think I'll head over to her right away." He spoke while waving his hand at them. The two guards only stared after the boy with wide eyes while reading the words 'Gama-Sennin' at the back of his jacket. "He really is the spitting image of his father don't you thin?" Izumo spoke to his partner. Kotetsu nodded his head in agreement. "One thing is for certain. This place won't be as quiet anymore with him back in the village."

Meanwhile, Naruto had arrived at the hokage tower, and was slowly walking up the steps towards Tsunades office. He had pulled the hood over his head just after leaving the guards at the gate. He wouldn't want to ruin the surprise of him being home just yet.

As he arrived at the secretary desk outside the office, he smiled as he observed Shizune sitting there going over some paperwork. She suddenly looked up at him and gave a pleasant smile. "What can I help you with?" Naruto smirked under his hood and decided to play a little with her. "Did it hurt?" he asked while trying alter his voice so to not give himself away. "What do you mean, hurt?" Shizune asked with confusion all over her face. Naruto had to struggle hard to not laugh, but he managed to hold it for now. "When you fell down from heaven. With looks like yours you have to be an angel". Shizune was blushing while looking completely stupefied. Who the hell was this guy coming in here with stupid and old pickup lines like that? Whoever he was, he was definitely in good shape. The person before her suddenly started shaking until he burst out laughing. "Hahaha, you should have seen your face Shizune-neechan. It was priceless". "eh?" Shizune was really confused now, the only person who ever called her that was...

"Naruto, is that you?!" The person in front of her then pulled back his hood to reveal his laughing face. "It's great to see you to again." he smiled at her. Shizune sprung out of her chair and embraced the boy in front of her while her smile was threatening to split her face. "NARUTO! It's been so long since the last time I've seen you". Naruto returned the hug while smiling softly at her. "It's good to be back again". When Shizune released the hug, she looked at his hair with question marks all over her face. "What's with the red?" Naruto brushed a hand through his hair while giving his answer. "I'll tell you everything when we meet with Baa-Chan. It's a long story". With that comment, the brown haired woman in front of her suddenly turned towards Tsunades office. "We've got to tell her you're back". As she was moving towards the door, she was stopped when Naruto pulled her hand. "I want to surprise her a little bit. After all, I am the number one prankster ninja." He said with his usual foxy grin plastered on his face. "Here's the plan..."

Tsunade was sitting quietly in her office, enjoying a cup of sake. The paperwork for the day was done, and she finally had some time to relax. Suddenly, the doors flew open, and Shizune stormed in. "Tsunade-sama! There is an emergency". Tsunade managed to spill her sake bottle all over the desk as she sprung to her feet. "What? What is it?". "You have to see this, come quickly." Shizune winked for her to follow her out of the office.

When they arrived outside, She handed her mater a note with only two words written on it. 'I'm back'. "Is this it?!" Tsunade asked with frustration in her voice. "A note with the words 'I'm back' on it?! This is the emergency that made me spill out a bottle of perfectly good sake?!" The Hokage immediately turned around and walked back to her office with Shizune on her heels. "But, Tsunade-sama. Who do you think it's from." Tsunade continued her rant. "I don't care who it's from. This is the stupidest emergency I have ever seen". When she entered back into the office, she stopped dead in her tracks. There was somebody sitting in heir chair with his face turned away from the door. "Who are you, and what are you doing in my chair?" The blond hokage asked. As she said those words, the chair slowly turned around to show a blond and red haired boy with his trademark grin on his face. "It's been awhile...Baa-Chan".

After a hug, and a hit over the head. Naruto explained what had occurred during his two years away from everyone. It was a long story, and Tsunade could feel the headache coming already. "So let me get this straight, the first one and a half year, you were visiting the other four great villages to train and to hunt missing-nins?" Naruto nodded at the hokages questioning. "That explains all the reports I've heard about missing-nins getting disposed of before the kages could react. But that still doesn't explain what you did the last 6 months before you came back here." Tsunade said while pinching the bridge of her nose. This was starting to get annoying. "Ah, yes. I had some business with Kurama to take care of." Naruto said while waving his hand dismissively. "Kurama?! Tsunade exclaimed with shock all over her face. "Kurama as in the Kyuubi?" Naruto scratched the back of his head while leaning further back in his chair. "Yes, the Kyuubi had some training for me as well, so I spent 5 months under his tutelage before he passed away." As Naruto finished talking, you could see the sorrow in his eyes for loosing the one thing he had been connected to his entire life. Even though they weren't on good term in the beginning. During the war he had been able to bond with the nine-tailed beast. And together as partners, they were able to defeat Madara. "What do you mean passed away?" Shizune asked with a surprised look. Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his chair before he continued talking. "It means that after he finished teaching me, I spent the last month in a coma while I absorbed the last of his powers, and he passed away. Just like dad said would happen eventually". Shizune got a sad look on her face, she knew that Naruto hated loosing people around him, and it must be strange to loose something that has been apart of you for so long. "Wait, is that why you have the red tips to your hair? From completely absorbing the Kyuubi?" Naruto nodded absently at this. "Wait, if you have absorbed the Kyuubi, then how powerful are you right now Naruto?" Tsunade suddenly asked. "Hmm, that is a good question." Naruto replied after a brief pause. Tsunade continued her talking. "Well, that will be shown tomorrow. I have decided to put you to the test to see how strong you are. Meet up at the Chuunin-exam stadium tomorrow at noon."

"Eh?" Naruto asked. "Why there? Why not a regular training ground?" The blond hokage only smiled slyly at the question before answering. "It wont be enough space there. After all, I think there will be a lot of people who will want to see the Hero of the fourth shinobi war in a spar".

After that, Naruto was dismissed from the office, after being given instructions on where he was to stay since his old apartment had been destroyed during Pains attack on Konoha. He had been given a new apartment close to the ramen stand, something that made said person very happy. After checking it out, he found out that it was a small apartment, with a living room, kitchen, bathroom and finally a bedroom where he actually had a double bed. All in all it was a lot better than the old apartment he had, and the interior was much better than what he had before.

After leaving the apartment, he went straight to his favorite spot in the entire village, before he sat down an relaxed. While looking down at the head of his father that he was sitting on, he thought about the things he had experienced over the past two years.

"I'm finally home dad..."

* * *

**So that marks the end of chapter 2 of this story. I'm not really sure about the lenght of each chapter, so if anyone had something they want to say about that, then feel free to leave a comment. I'll try not to make them too short, as I'm not a fan of stories with short chapters. **

**Anyways, until next time!**

**-Zhilay**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Test

**Finally, i have finished chapter 3 of the story. Words cannot say how sorry i am that this took so long, but my laptop has lately had kind of a bad mood. He decides from time to time to just stop working, and shut down without giving me time to save or anything. At one point, it decided that it would take this chapter with it. So when i turned on the computer, i lost everything i had written in this chapter. **

**This really hit on my motivation, since i struggled to re-write the entire thing while still beeing close to what i wrote the last time, but now it's complete and i'm back on track.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter up some time later this week, as i have a fair bit of time on my hand from tomorrow of. Anyways...here we go with chapter 3!**

* * *

The next morning, Naruto got dressed, and headed out to get the one thing he had missed the most on while gone from the village. His precious ramen. He kept wearing the hood over his head while walking through the city. He wasn't interested in showing himself before the 'test' he had at noon. When he arrived at the stand, he sat down and waited to be served. Then an old man came out from the back and walked over. "Welcome to Ichirakus, would you like to order?" The old man said. Naruto pulled back his hood and showed a big smile. "I would like 10 bowls of miso ramen". The old mans jaw was threatening to fall of as he stared at the blond in front of him. "Na..Na..Naruto?! Is that really you?" The old man walked up and gave a big hug, finally his best customer was back in town. "Oi, Ayame! Come quick and look who it is." The old man shouted out to the back of the shop.

Suddenly a brown haired woman came out from the back of the shop, and when she saw the customer sitting there, she dropped the bowl she had in her hand. "Naruto, is it you?" she said as she leaped onto the counter to hug the boy in question. "It is really you! Finally you are back". Naruto only smiled at the two, and returned the hug. "Yes, I'm finally back again. It's been too long since I had the food of gods". The old man walked into the back to start working on Narutos order while Ayame was chatting with Naruto about the things he had experienced. "So." Ayame said. "Tell me about how you got these red highlights in your hair. They are so...kawaii." she said blushing while stroking his hair. Naruto chuckled at her before answering. "They are a kind of parting gift from the Kyuubi. Just before I came back, he was completely absorbed and passed away". Ayame only kept stroking his hair while nodding at him. She didn't really know what to respond to something like that. However she wasn't one to complain, because she definitely liked the change to his hair.

At that moment, the old man came out with the first bowl in Narutos order, and the blond threw himself over the food while answering more questions from the two.

After finishing eating and talking to the old man and Ayame, Naruto left towards the chuunin-exam stadium. It was closing in on noon, and he didn't want to be late. He didn't need to become another Kakashi that was late for everything.

When he arrived, he was met by the fifth hokage, Tsunade herself. He was guided towards a side entrance, and told to be on standby until she called for him. With nothing else to do, he sat down in a lotus position and started meditating.

After sitting like this for a while, he could hear Tsunade's voice boom out over the stadium. "My fellow shinobi and civilians of Konoha, we have gathered here today to honor the greatest hero of the war, and the person to defeat Madara Uchiha. Also, we are here to see his abilities on display while sparring against some of the best jonin this village has to offer. Without further ado, I give you, Naruto Uzumaki!". As she finished talking, a roar of applause was heard from the crowd, and Naruto figured this was the signal he was waiting for. As he walked into the stadium, the applause surprisingly increased even more. As he stood there in the middle of the stadium, he couldn't help but look around at the crowd that had gathered with a smile on his face, and a tear in the corner of his eye. It was totally packed, which much mean that the entire village was gathered here. As he was standing there admiring the crowd, Tsunades voice roared out once again. "To face of against him, we have chosen these two". As she finished talking, Naruto turned around and came face to face with two people that he knew quite well. "To fight against Naruto, is Maito Gai, and Hatake Kakashi." the hokages voice rung out once again.

Naruto only stared at the two while Tsunade was talking. They hadn't changed one bit since he saw them two years ago. Gai was still clad in his green spandex, and his eyebrows thick as ever. Kakashi was clad in standard jonin uniform with a face mask covering the bottom of his face, and his forehead protector was covering his left eye. His silver hair was also standing up like it always did.

Gai took his normal 'nice-guy' pose, giving Naruto thumbs up. "Yosh, let's show these people your youthfulness Naruto". Naruto decided to have a little fun with the man, and pulled out a trick from his sensei's book. He looked at Gai with a bored expression. "Huh, did you say something?" Gai's face completely lost all it's colour, and he looked at Naruto as if he had grown a new head. "GAH, we don't need another Kakashi with the hip attitude around here". At Gai's side, Kakashi was chuckling at the exchange. He knew that this was something Naruto had taken from him, and he did it for the same reasons. To annoy Konoha's green beast. Kakashi raised his hand lazily and eye-smiled at his student. "Yo, Naruto. Long time no see". The blonde boy only looked strangely at his sensei while picking his ear. "Eh? Do I know you from somwhere?" At this, both of the jonin sweat-dropped while looking at each other. "Did you learn your student to be this un-youthful? Gai asked his rival. Kakashi shaked his head. "This guy is even worse than me right now".

While the three of them were standing down in the arena, Tsunade was once again speaking up. "For these spars, there are no holds. You are allowed to use any means necessary to win. However, try not to kill eachother".

As she finished talking, the first spar between Naruto and Gai was called to begin. They were both standing in the middle of the field. Gai in his normal fighting stance, while Naruto was standing with his hands crossed. They were both standing like this for awhile, before the green clad jonin sprung to action. He raced towards Naruto at max speed, before he launched a kick at his head. The blond only bent forwards, and the kick flew over his head. Gai followed up with a punch towards his stomach, but Naruto blurred out of existence, before appearing behind the jonin. "tsk, you are still wearing your weights 'bushybrow-sensei'. If you want to fight me you should take them off". As Naruto said that, he flashed forwards, and slapped Gai to the back of the head before flashing back to his original spot. The jonin decided to do as said, and removed the weights from his legs and arms before charging at the blond again. This time his speed was even higher. As he came in for an uppercut, Naruto swat the punch away, and deliver an open-palm strike to the mans mid-section. Gai could feel the air getting knocked out of him. 'The power of this guy is immense, I never expected him to hit this hard'.

Meanwhile, Naruto decided to kick it up a notch. He took of his jacket, and lifted up his shirt. As he did this, he took of the weight-belt that was strapped to his waist. Deciding to have a little fun, he threw the belt at his opponent. As Gai saw it coming flying towards him, he sped towards it to try and throw it back towards the blonde and also adding his momentum to it. However, when he grabbed a hold of the belt to throw it back, he was stopped in his tracks, and sent flying along with it. As he landed on the ground, he was holding on to the belt with wide eyes. Even in the crowd people were staring with great surprise at the jonin. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't lift the belt of the ground. "Naruto, how much does these weigh?" Gai asked with shock written all over his face. "440 pounds (200kg), why?" Naruto replied. The amusement was clear in the blue eyes. "SAY WHAT?!" Gai was mortified. There was no way this kid in front of him was human. He was carrying a belt around his weight that was no less than about double of what he probably was weighing.

After letting go of the belt, Gai rushed ahead to take out the blonde as soon as he could. He was not interested in seeing more of the surprises he might have in store. Naruto saw him coming, and with a speed that not even his opponent could see, he got inside the jonin's guard. As he did this, he landed a crushing uppercut that sent Gai across the field. He looked on in amusement as the green-clad man tried to get back to his feet. The power behind that punch had made him wobbly, but he wasn't down yet. He still had one more trick up his sleeve.

Up in the hokage box, Tsunade was looking at the fight with wide eyes. Sure she knew Naruto was good, but the power behind that punch was like the ones she could pull of. She then looked over at Gai, who was looking back at her with determination in his eyes. She knew what he was asking for, and she nodded her head as agreement. Then, Gai crosses his arms in front of his face and his chakra spiked to immense levels.

Naruto saw this coming. In fact, he was hoping that it would come to this. The people wanted to know how strong he was, and now, it was time to show it.

As Gai's chakra continues to rise, you could see it surround the green-clad jonin. The people in the stands that knew what was to come was speechless. To think he actually had to resort to this to even have a chance to be at the same level as his opponent.

"(7th gate) Gate of Wonder: Kai!" Gai yelled out, and immediately, the chakra surrounding him turned green and his skin darkened. His once black eyes were now pure white, and you could see the veins around them.

After successfully opening the gates, Gai disappeared from view and charged at his opponent. Naruto for his part was ready for this. He took up his stance, and waited for the onslaught that was to come. For a few of the most observant people, you could see his eyes suddenly shifted from clear blue to a dark purple color.

When Gai reached his target, he unleashed a barrage of punches. The speed and friction behind the punches made them catch fire, and Naruto was suddenly engulfed in fire while Gai kept on with his barrage.

As Gai threw his last punch, you could see the ball of fire that was surrounding Naruto was blasted towards the wall, and cracked it on impact. However, when the fire died out, a ball of golden chakra fell to the ground. As soon as it touched the ground, it dispersed. But there was no Blonde inside of it. The whole stadium went silent at this. Some fearing the worst. However, the silent was quickly replaced by gasps as they saw what just unfolded down in the stadium. Out of nowhere Naruto had suddenly ended up behind the green-clad jonin, with a kunai to his throat. "I think I win this one Gai-Sensei", Naruto whispered. At these words, Gai resigned, and fell to the ground exhausted from the use of the inner gates. Then, the crowd exploded in cheers. The fights they just had witnessed was beyond most peoples comprehension, and the power level that was used was immense. People had heard Naruto had won them the war, but no one was expecting him to actually come out on top against a man who opened the 7th inner gate.

Up in the hokage stand, Tsunade was cheering loudly for her "Blonde little brat". She knew this match would be one that would surprise a lot of people. She was just hoping that the next one would be just as good.

Back down at the stadium grounds, Gai was currently being carried out medic nins, while Naruto sat down to meditate. He needed to calm himself down for this next fight.

Kakashi was dumbfounded at the display he had just witnessed. To think that his student had come away from the fight without a single visible scratch on his body. He was really in for it now, seeing as he was the next one.

After a brake for people to calm down, and for Naruto to get some rest, Tsunade called for the next match to begin.

Naruto and Kakashi was standing face to face in the middle of the arena. "I gotta say, that was a good fight you showed us" Kakashi said. "But I won't let myself get caught as easily as he did". At this, Kakashi flipped backwards while rushing through hand-signs. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu". A huge fireball was launched at the blonde, who launched himself high into the air while going through his own hand-signs and pulling air to his lungs. "Fūton: Renkūdan" Naruto launched a ball of air from his mouth. The silver haired jonin managed to barely avoid it, but it tore of the sleeve of his left arm. The place where the bullet had hit was now a huge crater. As Naruto landed back on the ground, he turned to his former sensei. "I'm afraid I have to cut this fight short as I used a lot of chakra to defend against Gai's last attack". As he finished talking, he pulled out two kunai from his pouch. When kakashi saw this, his eyes widened. This kunai was not just a regular one. This was something that Kakashi never thought he would see again. This kunai had three blades instead of one, and on the handle, you could see markings carved into them.

Naruto took one of the kunai, and launched it at his opponent. As soon as it started to close in, he suddenly vanished, and re-appeared right in front of Kakashi with said weapon in hand.

As the crowd saw the technique just used, many of them had a flashback to the old days. Back under the forth hokages reign. And they erupted once again in cheers for a technique thought to be lost to the world.

Kakashi however, did not have time to cheer, as Naruto came in with one kunai in each hand. He was forced to draw his own to defend himself, and you could hear the sound of metal hitting against metal.

They continued to battle like this for a while, no one gaining the upper hand, before Naruto suddenly decided to throw in a kick that hit his opponent square in the chest. This sent the jonin flying, but he managed to roll in the air to land on his feet a little distance away. "You definitely have skill Naruto, i'll give you that." Kakashi said. "However, I will not give up yet". As he said this, he pulled up the forehead protector to reveal his left eye and the Sharingan.

His stern look was turned to one of confusion however as he looked at his former student, as Naruto was currently shaking. The shaking turned into chuckles as the boy looked back at him. "Oh, but this fight is already over you know". Suddenly Naruto disappeared once again, and a chill went down Kakashi's spine at the whisper he heard next. "And I have just figured out the technique to use. You might remember this from our bell test". Naruto had appeared behind him, and was crouched ready to pounce. "Konohagakure Hidden Secret Taijutsu Technique: One Thousand Years of Death!"

The entire stadium went silent, and the only thing you could hear, was Kakashi screaming as he was launched towards the hokage stand. When he landed at the feet of the hokage, the stadium broke out in laughter which later turned to cheers. The technique used to defeat Kakashi was unorthodox, but a win is a win, and he had just defeated to of the best jonin in the village.

Kakashi however, was not cheering. He was laying there in embarrassment after having been defeated by a technique that he had used on Naruto back when he had just graduated from the academy.

After the fights were over, and Kakashi was back on his feet, Tsunade spoke out to the crowd again. "Fellow citizens of Konoha, you have now witnessed the power of Naruto Uzumaki, and we have deemed this worthy of the rank of jonin. I have also been contacted by the other five great villages, and they have made him honorary jonin of their villages aswell. So it is my honour to award the rank of 'jonin of the five great villages' to Naruto Uzumaki".

The crowd stood to their feet and cheered once again as Naruto was awarded his flak-jacket as a sign of being a jonin. This jacket was a custom made one at that. On the back you could see the Konoha logo in the middle, while the four other village logos was placed around it in smaller size.

Naruto was overjoyed by finally being promoted from genin, and took on his jacket with pride written all over his face.

He was once step closer to becoming hokage...

* * *

**So there we have chapter 3. Hope you liked it, and again i am so so so so so sorry for the long wait.**

**For those of you wondering about what ability Gai used after opening the gates, it is called 'Morning Peacock'. It's an ability he uses while fighting Kisame.**

**As for what Naruto used to defend himself, i will not tell about that just yet. Some may have figured it out, but it will be clearer in the next chapter.**

**If you have any questions/corrections or comments feel free to send them, i appreciate them all!**

**Until next time...Zhilay :)**


	4. Chapter 4 - Good news and bad

**HeyHeyHey, at last...Chapter 4 is here! :D**

**I struggled alot while writing this, as i was not sure how to write the reunion of team 7, and also, i tried to make a longer chapter. **

**I had some comments wishing for longer chapters, and i will try my best. Anyway, Without further ado...Enjoy!**

* * *

After a great but tiring day at the chuunin-exam stadium, Naruto was now making his way over to his apartment to get some rest. After getting handed the jonin vest, he was brought to the hokage tower to meet with the council. He was actually surprised by the positive attitude they all had towards him. Well, almost everyone. The only ones who where still not 'big fans' of him where the two advisers, Homura and Koharu. They were still of old believes, and wouldn't let the fact about the Kyuubi go. Even after he told them that it was no more.

Naruto let out a sigh to himself while continuing his walk. He couldn't convince everyone, but at least he had the rest of the council in his back, and they were all very gracious towards him.

After getting a good rest back at his apartment and some food for his empty stomach, he decided to head out to his good old training spot. Training ground 7. He was happy about beating both Gai and Kakashi in the test, but he still wasn't used to the fact that the Kyuubi's chakra was a part of his now. This made some of his techniques harder to control, but also made them immensely more powerful. He also learned from his old inhabitant that he would most likely end up with his affinity for the fire element. He had tested this after the absorption had happened, and it showed to be true. But he still hadn't gotten around to learning fire jutsu. He had focused so much before that on mastering jutsu of his primal element, wind.

While Naruto was busy with his training, a team of familiar faces arrived at the Konoha gates. Team 10, or Team Asuma as they were called in honor of their dead sensei, was returning home from a mission. As they walked towards the guard station to announce their return, they overheard the talk between the two that were on duty. "I can't believe Naruto actually managed to beat both Gai and Kakashi. It's like he returned from his absence ten times more powerful. And with the power he displayed during the war, I didn't think that was possible". "I know what you mean, that kid makes all us other shinobi look bad with all that hard work he puts up." the other replied. As team Asuma heard this, the first one to break in to the conversation was a boy named Chouji. "What are you guys talking about? Is Naruto finally back?" Chouji of the Akimichi clan was a jonin clad in a red suit with plated armor on his torso, arms and upper legs. Over this he was wearing his jonin vest open so you could see the kanji for 'food' written on the torso of the plated armor. His hair was brown, long and spiky

"Yes, Naruto returned yesterday." the guard replied. "Tsunade put him to the test earlier today against Gai and Kakashi." At this, the second member, Ino, decided to voice her opinion. "Well, how long did he last? I know he's good after what happened in the war, but I really can't see him beating both of them". Ino Yamanaka was regarded as one of the prettiest kunoichis of Konoha. With her bright blue eyes and her long, blonde hair she was often sought after by shinobi of the village, and even other villages. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail behind her head, and she had bangs hanging over the right side of her face. Up through the years she had used some varieties of purple outfits, but after the war and her promotion to jonin, she had stuck to the standard shinobi attire. She was wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt with her jonin vest over. Blue pants which stopped a little over her ankles.

The guard showed a smile to the blonde girl before replying. "That's the thing. Naruto actually man-handled them both. They couldn't stand a chance against him". All of Team Asuma gasped at this. To imagine that he had become so strong that he was able to man-handle the two best shinobi in Konoha was amazing. And to add on to the shock the guard told them about how Gai even opened the seventh gate to fight.

After talking for a little while with the guards, Team Asuma headed towards the hokage tower to report their mission. They were stunned about what they had learned, but decided to find the boy after their report (or rather, Ino had decided to find him). "To imagine he has gotten even stronger after all of this. What a drag..." the lazy voice of their final member, Shikamaru Nara, called out. Shikamaru was one Konohas masterminds with his high IQ and his abilities to come up with strategies for almost every situation. He was clad in the same standard shinobi outfit as Ino, with the only exception being that he had black shirt and pants. His dark brown hair was, as always put up in a spiky ponytail. This had given him the nickname 'pineapple head' from some of his friends.

Ino only glared at her teammate as a reply. Even though he had gotten better over the years, he was still one of the laziest people in the world.

After finishing their report with the hokage, they all went their separate ways, even though Ino tried to convince them to help her find Naruto. "With your sensory abilities it shouldn't be a problem to find him with that huge cakra capacity he has, I'd rather go home and watch some clouds." was the response she had gotten from Shikamaru. Choji had headed to some restaurant to get some food (not a surprise). So that left the female of the team all alone to find their old classmate.

After searching the village, she located his chakra and headed towards training ground 7. Her lazy teammate was right. With the amount of chakra Naruto has it was easy to find him in the village. As she arrived at the grounds, she was met with the sight of an enormous fire dragon taking to the skies before crashing to the ground. As the fire died out she could see a person sitting on the ground, panting. She would recognize that voice immediately wherever she went. "YES! Then we can scratch that jutsu of on our list". As he finished talking to himself, he could feel a presence behind him, and turned around with his trade-mark foxy grin. "Oi, Ino! Are you just gonna stand there and peep, or are you gonna come over". Ino grumbled a bit to herself before making her way over to the other blonde in the clearing. "Good to see you again, Naruto." Ino said while smiling. She looked him over, and had to force back a blush. This guy in front of her was well fit, and without the hideous (in her mind) orange jumpsuit he was actually good looking. And the red highlights in his hair made the impression even better.

Naruto saw the way she was looking him over, and smirked at her before replying. "Good to see you too Ino. I'd say you get more beautiful everyday". At this she couldn't hold back the blush from her face. Not only had he gotten more attractive, but he also had much better manners it seemed.

Naruto for his part kept the smirk on his face. During his absence he had picked up some of his old masters behaviors, but not the perverted ones (or at least not most of them).

"Thank you. And if I do say so, you don't look so bad yourself" Ino replied.

They sat down and talked about what had happened during the past two years, and of what happened after he returned back home. When they were finished talking, it was getting dark.

"Guess it's time to head home." Ino said as she rose from the ground. Naruto got up after her. "Let me escort you home. I don't have much to do anyways".

She accepted the offer, and he followed her until they reached an apartment complex. "Well, here it is. I'll see you around I guess?" "I guess so. I don't think I'll take another journey for a while." he joked while grinning at the blonde female. "You better not." Ino replied. "Things have been to quiet without you making fuzz all over. Anyways, good to have you back Naruto". At this, she gave the boy a quick hug, before walking into the complex. Naruto stared after her with a smile while muttering to himself. "Good to be back".

After escorting Ino back to her apartment, Naruto walked back to his own. He realized they weren't that far of, which was good for him. As he was real tired after a long day. As he entered his own apartment, he took of his clothes, and fell to sleep as soon as he hit the pillow.

The next morning, Naruto went through his morning routines before heading out to train once more. Many would turn lazy during times of peace, but the blonde was not one of them. He would not rest until he had reached his goal. He kept on with his training long into the day, but just as he was ready to head for lunch, he was suddenly greeted by an Anbu. "Naruto Uzumaki." the Anbu said. "You have been requested at the hokage's office immediately". The blonde thanked the Anbu before dismissing him. 'I wonder what Baa-chan wants from me now?' he thought to himself before heading of for the tower.

When arriving at the tower, he went straight for the Tsunade's office, and came face to face with a lot of familiar people. Inside the office, was Lee, Tenten, Ino, Shikamaru and Kiba. Tsunade was not there at the moment, so he greeted all his friends, and went through a long talk with them about the events of the day before, and all that had happened during his absence. When Tenten had asked about the red highlights in his hair, Ino had taken up the explanation of that. Seemed that they were attractive for the female side, as he had got questions about this from pretty much every female he had met.

Just as Naruto was talking about his training in Kumo with Killer Bee, Tsunade returend to the office with a stack of papers in her hand. "Thank you all for coming." She said while sitting down in her chair. "I have called you in here as there will be a new bunch of students graduating out of the academy next week". The people in the room quickly understood where this was going, and the reaction was mixed among them. Some where hesitant, some excited, and one (guess who) thought it was troublesome. One of them however, had a complete shutdown in his brain when he realized what was asked of them. Never in a hundred years had Naruto Uzumaki considered being a jonin sensei for a group of genin. Probably because of the fact that until yesterday he was a genin himself.

As the people in attendance where busy with their thoughts, Tsunade continued her speech. "You who are here today have been considered by me, the council, and your former sensei, and we believe you to be worthy of having your own genin cell. Even though one of you just got promoted to jonin." she looked at Naruto before continuing. "I hope you will consider this offer, and I believe this will be a positive experience for all of you".

After Tsunade finished talking, she put her elbows on the desk while folding her hands in-front of her face. Now it was just to wait for their brains to catch up to them. Lee was the first to recover, and he he spoke up with fire burning in his eyes. "YOSH! I will share my power of youth with the genin and teach them all I can!" Tsunade contained her shudder. Hopefully there wouldn't be another Gai/Lee running around the village. Lee's reply made the rest of them stir, and they most of them agreed to take on a team. Even Shikamaru agreed to take on a team (more like he was forced by a 'death glare' from Ino). The only one who hadn't replied yet, was Naruto. His brain went from complete shutdown to running a hundred thoughts in hour. Was he ready for this? Would he be a good sensei? Or would he fail at teaching?

Tsunade watched the turmoil going on in the young blonde, and actually felt a bit worried for him. She didn't have to worry much however, as all the others seemed to have noticed it as well. Lee was again the first to react, as he put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You shouldn't worry to much Naruto-kun. I'm sure you would be a great sensei. And If I'm to take a team, I need my rival to also take a team so that we can compete". At this Lee took his 'nice-guy' pose. This seemed to calm the blonde abit. Then he felt a hand on his other shoulder, and he looked up to see Ino smiling at him. "Lee is right you know. You would make a great jonin sensei. You did after all beat two yesterday." she said with a small laugh. Naruto smiled at all of his friends. They all had fate in him that he could do this, and he wouldn't dissapoint. "Alright. Jonin Naruto Uzumaki is ready to take on a genin team, and I will do my best!" Tsunade smiled at the boy. With the power he had shown yesterday, and the maturity during the council meeting, she was sure he would become a great sensei.

After finishing at the tower, all of them agreed to have lunch together at a barbeque restaurant. There they talked about what they wanted to teach the students, and what kind of teams they wanted. Shikamaru, of course, wanted a calm team that wouldn't be too troublesome to handle, while Lee wanted a youthful team. They ended their lunch, agreeing to make this a weekly tradition while they were teachers. Naruto left to continue his training until sunset to clear his minds of all his worries. Little did he know that later he would meet someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

Sakura Haruno was just finishing her shift at the hospital. It had been a long day, and she couldn't wait to get some rest. She put these thoughts quickly to rest however, when she heard a familiar voice coming out of Ichiraku Ramen. She quickly ran over, and saw a person coming out of the stands. There was something very familiar with him, but she wasn't completely sure. "Naruto?" she asked, and the boy in question turned around. When he did so, there was a moment of shock on his face before it changed into a huge smile. "Sakura-Chan!" She ran up and hugged the blonde. "It's great to see you again baka When did you come back?" Naruto released the hug, and showed his trade-mark goofy grin while scratching the back of his head. "Came back two days ago actually". She put on a pouting expression and punched him playfully in the shoulder. "And you didn't come to see me? I was hoping to be one of the first to know when you were back." Naruto only chuckled at her. They kept talking like this for a while of what he had done during his two years absent, and the two days back in the village. As all others, she was shocked when she heard about the show he had put on. He told her about the fact that he was gonna become a jonin sensei, and she smiled and told him that some kids would be very lucky to have someone like him teaching them.

After talking like this for a while, and walking aimlessly around the city, Naruto decided to take his chances. "Sakura-chan, now that I'm back. How about you and I go out this weekend? That is, if your not busy or anything." He said while blushing like mad. Sakura however, was shocked. He was still trying to get a date out of him? She put on a sad smile and was about to reply, when she heard a voice behind her. "Oi, not hitting on my fiancé are you?" At this she turned around and threw herself into the arms of the person behind her. "Sasuke-kun! What are you doing here?" Sasuke however was to busy staring at the blonde in front of him with his traditional smirk. "I asked you a question dobe!" Naruto couldn't answer. He was too busy gaping at the two in front of him. When his brain caught up, he finally got his ability to talk (somewhat) back. "Wha...wha...what do you mean fiancé?" he said while his eyes shifted rapidly between the two of them. Sakura was the one to respond to him. "Eh, it kinda means that we are engaged." she said while giving little smile. Hoping he would be happy for them. "We are getting married in 3 months".

It took a while for this to sink in to the blonde, but when it did, his normally warm blue eyes turned icy. His voice also held none of it's usual warmth, and it came out almost as a whisper. "So this is is what you have chosen? You have chosen the traitor over there?" Sakura and Sasuke didn't know what to say. Was this really the Naruto they knew?

Naruto for his part was struggling to keep himself in check. He had done anything for the girl in front of him, and even saved her from getting killed at the hand of her so-called 'fiancé'. He had done this all to make her appreciate him, and to finally have her by his side like he always dreamed he would. Now this was lost, and his heart was shattered.

"What are you trying to say dobe? Are you saying I don't deserve her? That she deserves better than the last Uchiha? Or are you just sad you two will never happen?" Now the little restrain that Naruto had snapped, and he leached out on his former teammate. "THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN! You betrayed this village just to run to Orochimaru. Then when you killed him, you decided to turn to Madara and aid him against Konoha and the rest of the world. AND THEN you decide to turn on him just because you realise you were on the loosing side. What's to keep you from betraying us again, HUH?" "Would you two calm down? Please..." Sakura tried to play peacemaker between the two, just like back in the days of team 7. Naruto however would have nothing of it. "Why are you defending a guy who left you? He even tried to KILL you? How can you be engaged to a guy like that? After ALL I have done?" Naruto had completely snapped. And now, even Sakura's patience was running thin with the blonde. "What do you mean by that?! Who I decide to be with is not your choice Naruto. It is mine, and mine alone. Sasuke came back to the village, and he helped us win the war. He accepted his punishment for his betrayal". The blonde only snorted at this. "Punishment? The only punishment he got was to never be a shinobi again, normally people like that would get killed the second he sat a foot in this village again. Do you even know why you got such a low punishment?" "Because I'm the last of the Uchiha of course. This village can't be without it's Sharingan." Sasuke replied, once again with his superior smirk on his face. "Haha, good one. NO, the only reason you got off this cheap was because I pleaded for you. If it weren't for me you would have been executed or put in a cell to rot the rest of your days. This village managed without your 'precious eyes' when you left. And it can damn well manage perfectly fine without it now aswell." Naruto's tone had turned venomous now, and his eyes had turned darker. "Now you are taking this WAY to far Naruto" Sakura barked while going in for a punch at the blonde. Naruto for his part didn't even move a muscle to stop the punch. He bowed his head down, and just as the punch was about to hit, a golden tail sprung out from his back and blocked the punch. Sakura froze completely when her punch was blocked. She could feel a surge of evil chakra coming from the tail, it was like when she had seen Naruto in his bijuu state, but she could feel that this evil was coming from the boy himself this time, instead of the Kyuubi. Suddenly, Naruto's head shot up, and she gasped at the sight in front of her. His eyes were now a dark purple, and his whisker marks had darkened. "Of this is what you have decided, then so be it!" His tail vanished, and he turned around and started to walk away from them, but stopped after a few steps. "Oh, and Sasuke. If you don't treat her properly...Ah, I don't really care how you treat her. I don't care at all..." He said, and disappeared in a small pillar of fire. Left where two people. One in shock of how he had reacted, and to the fact that he had been the one to plead his cause. The other sad that she most likely just had lost a very close person.

Back at training ground 7, a pillar of fire shot out of the ground, and when it died out, Naruto came out of it. His eyes had now turned red, and 9 red tails were thrashing about wildly behind him. He was devastated. He was furious. He knew this was likely to happen, but to see it had actually happened... He didn't know what to do anymore. All he knew was the pain he felt. He disappeared once again, before re-appearing in the forest a couple of miles outside the village. As he did so, he let out a huge roar that shook the ground, and a shock wave sent all the trees around him flying. Even back in the village, people could feel the shock of this. Naruto only kept thrashing around, ripping at everything he could see in his path, before suddenly, he erupted in a huge explosion of fire.

Back in the village, Tsunade was looking towards where she could feel the shock wave was coming from. Then she saw an enormous explosion from outside the village. It didn't take long to get a hold of people to head out to the area to find out what had caused this.

Back in the forest, Naruto's chakra was finally dissipating, and he was left sprawling on the ground with tears flowing from his eyes and a pain in his chest that wouldn't go away. He clutched his chest to try and stop the pain, but it wouldn't go away. He took out a kunai, desperate to take the pain away, and stabbed in into his stomach. He winced as the pain hit him, but atleast this would take away some of the pain from his chest He felt his consciousness fade away, and with burn marks all over, and a kunai stabbed into his chest he felt darkness take him over.

"Oh my god... NARUTO!" was the last he heard before darkness took him...

* * *

**Okay, i know people might not be happy with the way i decided to end this chapter, but you gotta have some excitement, right? (A)**

**I will try to have the next chapter up in about a weeks time. I have gotten the reunion out of the way, and i had an idea in mind with the way i ended the chapter and what i want to happen further on.**

**As always, thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed it, even with the ending i made to it (Sorry :D), and feel free to leave a comment**

**-Zhilay**


End file.
